Fort Tusken Takeover
by Lizard King 13
Summary: A fort in the middle of the Tatooine desert encounters an attack from the Sand People.


The sun rose over the Tatooine desert as Fort Tusken began its morning guard shift. Drak Lungar grabbed his rifle and began his way down to the base of the plateau on which Fort Tusken stood. On his way there, he checked to see if his comlink was clipped to his collar. It was, and he continued. Once he got to the base of the plateau, he clicked his comlink and said, "This is Drak, reporting in. I am starting my shift." He and three other guards were patrolling the same area in opposite directions. Drak carefully inspected the rocky crags for anything suspicious. Nothing so far. He looked out into the distance, the sun was rapidly rising, and so was the temperature.

Drak continued his eyes on the ground. Rocks, sand, rocks, sand, was all that he saw. Rocks, sand, rocks, sand, footprints. Drak stopped, and surveyed the footprints. They went into a secret passage that went under the fort. It was usually guarded by two guards but no trace of them was there. "This is Drak, reporting in. I have found some footprints that lead into the secret tunnel. The usual guards are not there." He stopped and looked at the footprints. "It looks like there is only one person. I am going in to see if I can find them."

"We copy," said command center in the fort. Drak squatted along side the tracks, and surveyed them one last time. They looked about normal size; it was probably some lost adventurer. He stood up and walked in….

Head of Command Lerr Yslarm walked into the control room and inspected the situations over an operator's shoulder. Out here in the middle of the desert, there usually were no situations. So, naturally, the only one caught his attention. "Send two more guards to the tunnel and have them meet up with Drak," said Lerr. The operator nodded and clicked some controls and repeated the command.

Lerr paced along the behind the operators, waiting for some results. After a few minutes and no reports, Lerr pressed the controls and was going to say something, but was interrupted by static from the other end. He was silent, thinking about what that could mean. He closed his eyes for more concentration. When he opened his eyes, he saw reflections of tall humanoids walking outside of the building on the computer monitor. He knew who, or rather, what they were. He leaned into the operator's ear and said, "Sound the alarm we have a breach." The operator looked at him for reassurance. After he saw that Lerr's face was serious, the operator fiddled with the controls.

An alarm that echoed throughout most of the desert was sounded. Shortly after, the war cries of the Sand People. Lerr jumped to close the door to the control room. A plasma bolt from one of the Sand People hit his left hand, and Lerr reflexively pulled out a pistol and shot with his right. After the door was closed and securely locked, Lerr turned around and saw the operators looking at him. Soldiers of both factions were rushing to take up arms against one another. One of the operators got up and went into a cabinet and got a bacta patch for Lerr's hand. "No, no, I am fine," said Lerr, waving his healthy hand. "You need to get some weapons." The operators rushed about, searching for the weapons cabinet. "It's upstairs," said Lerr. They climbed up the stairs.

Lerr followed and took a position on the edge of a window. He carefully peered out the window and saw that the situation was not good. All of Fort Tusken's soldiers were focused on the Sand People with guns, when it was the ones with gaffi sticks that was the real threat. They snuck up behind the soldiers that were firing at the Sand People with guns, and clubbed the soldiers on the head. Lerr took a shot but missed horribly. He had no precision without his left hand.

The operators got their rifles and took positions by the windows. Some went onto the balcony and laid on their stomachs, acting like snipers. The hoarse screams of the Sand People, blaring siren, and whine of the blasters made the battle all the more confusing and hectic. Lerr looked out the window again and saw Sand People using the butts of their rifles and gaffi sticks to ram a door down. Lerr shot at one of them and hit it in the shoulder. The Sand Person fell, and got the attention of the other Sand People ramming the door. The ones with rifles shot at Lerr. Most bolts hit the outside wall, but one got in and smashed a lighting unit, causing sparks and glass to fly. The Sand Person screamed in triumph. Lerr took advantage of the opportunity and shot him in the leg, and again in the back once it was on the ground.

There was a loud banging downstairs. Everyone in the room froze and looked at each other. "Quick, we need to fortify the door. Everyone on the balcony, stay and keep shooting, everyone else, follow me," commanded Lerr. Lerr lead them downstairs. He quickly scanned the room for things they could keep the Sand People from coming in. The only thing that would do it would be the control consoles. "What about that?" he asked, point the gun at the control consoles.

"Sir, they would be hard for us to move," said one operator.

"But we can move it, right?"

"I guess."

"Then let's go," said Lerr. He couldn't grab the console, with a gun in his hand and an injured other. So it was up to the operators. They heaved it, moving it a couple of centimeters.

"Sir, the wires are tethering us to the wall," said an operator. Lerr looked and shot the wires. The siren died down. The operators pulled some more and when the console was far enough away, they got behind it and began to push.

The banging on the door was getting fiercer, and the door was getting weaker. They were running out of time, and Lerr was determined to keep yelling motivation sayings at the operators to make them push harder. They finally got the computer to the door and the operators relaxed. "Excellent although if we could push that, the Sand People can too. We need another." The operators gave a slight moan, which Lerr was going to question, but then decided against it.

The same thing happened, the operators got to their places, Lerr shot the wires and shouted motivational sayings. Halfway across the room, and Lerr thought they were going to delay their inevitable death. He quickly ran upstairs to see the battle and how it was progressing, if it was progressing.

Lerr lined himself against a wall and carefully looked out the window. He saw a lot of Fort Tusken soldiers; unfortunately, they were lying on the ground, dead. Lerr gulped. A deafening crack and then roar came from downstairs. "Everyone follow me," said Lerr to the snipers. They got up and followed him downstairs.

The insides of the first computer were being mercilessly smashed and shot by the Sand People. One of the Sand People was waving his gaffi stick through the broken screen. The second computer had yet to make it in front of the first. The gaffi stick in the screen disappeared and a rifle appeared. It shot at the second computer, frying two holes in it. Lerr shot at the rifle, but missed all three times. One of the operators stood on the side of the first computer and slammed his rifle into the Sand Person's rifle. A scream came from the other side, and the Sand People began smashing the insides of the computer again.

Everyone was silent as the Sand People gouged away the innards of the computer. The front panel fell down and the Sand People filed in. There was a short exchange of fire before everyone, including Lerr was dead.

After the siege of Fort Tusken, no attempt was made to get it back. The Sand People also gained a new name, Tusken Raiders.


End file.
